DIMINUTIVES and AUGMENTATIVES: A Note on Hindi & Kashmiri

Rajnath Bhat
Banaras Hindu University-India.

Abstract The essay attempts to explore diminutive and augmentative formation in Indo-Aryan with data from Kashmiri and
Hindi. Word-Formation in Indo-Aryan languages involves affixation, compounding, among other processes. Affixation and
Compounding generate Diminutives and Augmentatives as well. An attempt will be made in this essay to explore patterns of
Affixation and compounding that bring into being diminutives and augmentatives in Kashmiri and Hindi.

Prelude:

Hindi and Kashmiri are Indo-Aryan [IA] languagesa, of the Indo-European [IE] family. IA languages are scattered in
South-Asia across India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Unlike most Indo-Aryan languages, Kashmiri
does not aspirate voiced stop consonants. However voiceless stops and affricates are aspirated. Kashmiri
palatalizes (secondary articulation) all consonant segments except the palatal semi-vowel. Both Hindi and Kashmiri
reflect number (SG & PL), gender (M & F) and case (direct vs. oblique in Hindi; four cases in Kashmiri) prominently
in nouns and verbs. Their verb morphology is complex which reflects tense, aspect, mood, gender and number of
the subject or object in Hindi and subject, object and indirect object in Kashmiri. Hindi (with Urdu) is spoken by
nearly five hundred million speakers in South Asia and elsewhere while Kashmiri is spoken by upwards of five
million. Both languages have attracted the attention of linguists for over a century and a half. The earliest grammar
of Kashmiri, Kacmira∫abdāmṚta (in Sanskrit) by Ishvara Kaula appeared in the last quarter of the 19th century. It is
based upon Panini’s Aşţādhyāyī. [Maybe it is based on the Siddhānta Kaumudī of Bhaṭ ṭ oji Dīkṣita.] Sir G. A.
Grierson was instrumental in getting it published through the Asiatic Society based in Kolkata, then Calcutta.
Grierson himself brought out several essays on Kashmiri1 in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society’ between 1890 and
1910. These studies provide a wide and rich analysis of the phonology, morpho-phonology, and morphology of
Kashmiri. During the 20th century the linguistic studies2 of Kashmiri have been carried forward by several Western
and Indian scholars, namely B. B. Kachru, Peter E. Hook, O.N. Koul, R.K. Bhat, K. Wali and A. Kelkar among others.
Some scholars (Aziz, 2008; ) have brought out grammatical sketches of the language in Kashmiri, too. Kashmiri was
written in Sharada, now in augmented Nastaliq (Perso-Arabic), Kashmiri-Devnagari, and Roman scripts.

Hindi has a richer and longer tradition of linguistic studies from the 18th century onwards. Some of the prominent
grammatical works include Kellogg (1876), Guru (1920), Vajpeyi (1958), Bhatia (1987), McGregor (1995), Montaut
(2005), Kachru (2007), Agnihotri (2007), Koul (2009) among others. Sir G A Grierson’s monumental Linguistic
Survey of India (1919) briefly! describes the distribution and structure of Hindi and her regional sub-languages
[elaborately?]. Hindi is written in Devanagari and its closest variant, Urdu is written in Perso-Arabic script. Several
other languages in the sub-continent, namely Marathi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Maithili, Dogri, Pahari,
Kashmiri, Hindu-Sindhi, Nepali, Konkani, Gondi and most other tribal languages [except Santali] are also written in
Devanagari script. Hindi is regarded as the major ‘official’ language of the Indian Union.

Word-Formation in Indo-Aryan languages involves affixation and compounding, among other processes. Affixation
and Compounding generate Diminutives and Augmentatives as well. In what follows an attempt will be made to
demarcate patterns of Affixation and compounding that produce diminutives and augmentatives in Kashmiri and
Hindi.

DIMINUTIVE(S)

Normally one perceives DIMINUTIVE as a nominal that refers to an object of smaller size in comparison
to the ‘ideal/standard’ size. Hence, book-let, novelette is the Diminutive of the nominals book and novel
respectively; Nevertheless, one can employ independent lexis like pamphlet in place of booklet. In
Kashmiri we come across DIMINUTIVE(S) that are formed by suffixation, palatalization/vowel change
which triggers consonant change as well. In addition one can form DIMINUTIVE(S) through compounding

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by adding the noun/adjective like baci ‘child’/pyuunt ‘little/tiny‘ to the main noun. Hindi too employs
the twin processes of affixation and compounding as shall be demonstrated below.

The verb in Hindi and Kashmiri does not reflect the Diminutive status of the subject/object (noun) as, for
instance, Italian [IE] does (Grandi, 2009; Fradin, 2012). However, the gender and number of the
DIMINUTIVE compound change in several instances which are reflected by the verb. The feminine
counterpart of a noun formed after suffixation, in several cases, indicates its DIMINUTIVE status. In the
case of compounding in Kashmiri, the gender change is triggered and determined by the second
member of a compound.

Panini in Aşţadhyāyī discusses various types of Compounds [samāsa-s] in P. 2.4.17-31 sūtra-s

[rules]. Some commentators hold that rule P. 2.4.26 suggests that the gender of a compound is
decided by the second member of the compound- a phenomenon observed in N+N DIMINUTIVE
compounds (6-10) in Kashmiri. [Also seen in German mäd-chen ‘girl’] However, some other
commentators maintain that the dominant [pradhāna] member decides the gender of the
compound as is demonstrated (37-41) in Hindi as well as in N+Adj DIM compounds (11-12) in
Kashmiri. The rules P. 2.4.17-31 encompass all types of samāsa-s in Sanskrit. [(Joshi and
Roodbergen 2000:Xv)].

Palatalisation3 and vowel raising/lowering and Gender shift in Kashmiri:

1. nālƗ ‘canal/drain’ M > nƏly ‘thin/small drain’ F–palatalization + vowel raising

2. thāl ‘plate’ M > thƏly ‘small plate’ F–palatalization + vowel raising

3. noţ ‘earthen pitcher’ M > nƏr ‘smaller earthen pitcher’ F—Vowel lowering {centering}, vowel
lengthening and Consonant change [ ţ > r ]

[One may notice that the gender of the DIM changes in 1-3].

Suffixation and Gender shift in Kashmiri:

4. tumbƗ ‘metal water container‘ SG M >tumbƗ-c (DIMINUTIVE) SG F

5. makh ‘axe‘ M SG >mak-Ɨts DIMINUTIVE SG F

[The word-final voiceless stops and affricates in Kashmiri are mostly aspirated, with very few exceptions like kot
‘where’, mot ‘seer’, kǝţ ‘lass’ etc.]

Compounding (N+N/N+Adj) involving Gender and Number shift in Kashmiri:

6. sƗh‘lion’ M SG/PL +’baci ‘child/children’ M SG/PL >sƗh-Ɨ-baci ‘child-lion(s)’ M SG/PL

[-Ɨ-/-i- is a stem extender/connector/genitive,accusative case marker in several instances].

7. hῡn‘dog’M SG ~hῡñ y ‘bitch’ F SG

hῡny ‘dog-s’~hɔ̅ñyi ‘bitch-es’ >h ɔ̅ñyi-baci‘ pup(s) M SG/PL

8. brㆆr ‘he-cat’ SG ~brƏr ‘she-cat’ SG

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brƏry ‘he-cats’ ~brāri ‘she-cats’ > brāri-baci‘child-cat(s)’ M SG/PL

9. kāv‘crow M’ >kāv-Ɨ-baci ‘child-crow’ M SG/PL

10. kitāb‘book F’ >kitāb-i-baci ‘booklet’ M SG/PL

The following sentences from Kashmiri demonstrate gender-shift in Compound-DIMINUTIVE(S).

a. me pǝr kitāb me pari kitābƗ
I ERG read PST SG F book SG F I ERG read PST PL F book PL F
b. me por kitāb-i-baci
I ERG read PST SG M book-let SG M
c. me pǝry kitāb-i-baci
I ERG read PST PL M booklets
DIMINUTIVE forms of boy/girl in Kashmiri are formed by compounding as follows:

11. nikƗ ‘boy’ M SG >nikƗ -pyῡnt–‘tiny boy‘ M SG

12. kῡr ‘girl’ F SG >kㆆri ‘girls‘ F PL >kㆆri-baci - ‘little girl‘ M SG/PL

[12a. pῑnts is the feminine counterpart of pyῡnt ‘tiny M’ which when compounded with kῡr ‘girl’ F SG provides kori- pῑnts ‘little
girl’ DIM F SG].

The use of baci ‘child’ has been described above.

pyῡnt is added to ∫ur ‘child’ to produce the DIMINUTIVE form.

13. ∫ur ‘child’ M SG>∫ury M PL >∫ury-pyῡnt– DIMINUTIVE ‘little/tiny child‘ M SG

We find that the lexical item baci ‘child’ M SG/PL or pyῡnt ‘tiny’ M SG can be added to almost all kinds of
NOUNs in Kashmiri to produce the DIMINUTIVE(S) of the standard form. But this mode of compounding
is not very productive. Nouns equivalent to lexis such as cow/bull do not fall under this class of Nouns,
for instance. The forms in these cases and some others are suppletives as is exemplified below:

14. dānd <hakhur <votsh ; gāv >hokhƗr >vatshƗr

bull <young bull <calf (M) ; Cow <young cow <calf (F).

15. dǝryāv <kol < Joy

‘river‘ <‘stream’ <‘brook‘

One comes across similar suppletions in Hindi:

16. sāņȡ > bail > bachɍā; gāy >bachɍῑ

old bull > young bull > calf (M); cow >calf (F)

16a. daryā >nadῑ >jharnā

river >stream >brook

dobiny in Kashmiri:

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Here is an example of a DIMINUTIVE in Kashmiri that functions as an independent lexical item.

dob ‘washerman’ ~ doby-bāy‘washer-woman’ is a common noun with M [masculine] and F forms.

There is a DIMINUTIVE form that seems related to the common-noun pair:

17. dobiny ‘wooden/metal bat’ F SG used to thrash wet, dirty clothes.

An object of this form and function is called thāpῑ/kuţnῑ/mugariyā in Hindi/her regional sub-languages.

One comes across such an object in almost every household in South Asia. The person washing clothes
may use dobiny to remove ‘dirt’ from clothes. Washer-men/women do not use this object, they thrash
clothes on flat stones instead. It seems that in Kashmiri the item has evolved as a DIMINUTIVE and then
shifted its referent. The form in Kashmiri can be pejoratively employed to refer to a woman of less than
medium height.

Cultural usage- A case from Kashmiri:

The following examples reflect a facet of culture. There are some singulative lexical items that are added
to select lexis to obtain the DIMINUTIVE(S) of the latter. Such usages may, it is assumed, have a cross-
cultural presence. I would present some examples from Kashmiri: {Mass=mass noun}

18. batƗ ‘cooked rice M Mass’ > batƗ-phol ‘a grain of rice [ a little rice] M SG’

18a. batƗ ‘cooked-rice’ M Mass > batƗ-myoņȡ ‘a morsel of rice’ M SG

19. cāy ‘tea F Mass’> cāy-katrƗ ‘a drop of tea [a little tea] F SG’

20. syun ‘cooked vegetables M Mass’ > siny-ratsh ‘a little-bit of cooked vegetables’ F Mass

The DIMINUTIVE forms in the above examples are distinct. These instances do not denote ‘a grain’, or ‘a
drop/spoon’ per se; Instead these DIMINUTIVE compounds are used to mean ‘a little’
rice/tea/vegetables/lentils and so on while eating or drinking (tea). Since, rice is the stable diet of
Kashmiris, they use batƗ-phol ‘a grain of rice’ to mean ‘a little rice’.

It may,however, be noted that the lexis katrƗ ‘drop F‘, phol ‘grain M‘ and ratsh ‘a little F‘ can be added to
other nouns too to form compounds like

21. daal-i-phol ‘a grain of corn’ M SG,

22. pāñ katrƗ ‘a drop of water’M SG,

23. dag-i- ratsh ‘a little pain‘ F Mass.

Augmentatives:

Augmentatives in Kashmiri are primarily formed by Compounding. Examples are:

24. grῡs ‘peasant‘ > baȡƗ-grῡs ‘big farmer‘

25. boȡ ‘big‘ > patƗ-boȡ ‘big from the past i.e. big/rich by birth‘ [ patƗ ‘later,after, back].

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26. sāhab ‘gentleman‘ > boȡ-sāhab ‘big/senior gentleman i.e. boss‘

[26 is an adjective boȡ plus a noun sāhab].

In Hindi one finds equivalent usages in the phrases like baȡe-sāhab ‘boss’ or pu∫tainῑ-raῑs ‘rich for
generations’.

In Hindi grantha can be considered as a suppletive-augmentative of pustak ‘book’ on account of the

former’s semantic spread- it includes ‘large size’ in its field. Same item, granth can be treated as a
suppletive-augmentative of kitāb ‘book’ in Kashmiri4. However, granth as a lexical item is confined to the
vocabulary of those sections of Kashmiri society that have some exposure to Hindi or Sanskrit.

Hindi and her sub-languages

Nouns in Hindi, as in Kashmiri, are inherently assigned M or F gender and adjectives reflect the gender
of the noun that they modify; Most of the –ā ending nouns are of masculine gender; whereas most of
the –ī ending forms are feminine. As is the case in Kashmiri, the feminine counterpart of several Nouns
denotes DIMINUTIVE(S) in Hindi too. [See examples 27-31 & 33-35c].

MAS FEM [DIMINUTIVE]

27. nal ‘tap’ M SG >nalikā ‘thin/small tap’ DIMINUTIVE F SG

28. jholā ‘bag’ M SG >Jholī DIMINUTIVE F SG

29. ȡhol ‘drum’ M SG >ȡholak DIMINUTIVE F SG

30. nālā ‘drain M SG’ >nālī DIMINUTIVE F SG

31. beţā ‘son’ M SG >beţī/biţiyā ‘daughter’ F SG

[biţiyā is a DIMINUTIVE denoting more affection for the little-one!].

The gender does not change in the following example 32:

32. pustak ‘book F SG >pustikā ‘booklet DIMINUTIVE F SG

[A suppletive guţkā is also used to refer to a pamphlet. Sanskrit uses the suffix –ikkā to indicate DIM status of a nominal. For example: kaţţikkā
‘cart DIM’; hāņȡikkā ‘donation box DIM’].

33. pajāmā‘trousers’M SG > pajāmī DIMINUTIVE F SG

34. pul ‘bridge’ M SG > puliyā DIMINUTIVE F SG

35a. tumbā ‘a metal container’ M SG >tumbī DIMINUTIVE F SG

35b. gaɍwā ‘a metal container’ M SG >gaɍwī DIMINUTIVE F SG

35c. lauţā ‘a metal container’ M SG >luţiyā DIMINUTIVE F SG

It may be pertinent to record that the three ‘metal water containers’ mentioned above differ in shape
from one another, hence the variation in name. All are used like ordinary tumblers to drink a liquid.
tumbā is oval without a separate base; gaɍwā is oval with a separate base; lauţā is elongated in shape.

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The fact that feminine form of a nominal is in some cases treated as the DIMINUTIVE form is further
exemplified by coinages like baiţrā ‘big battery‘ M which is the masculine form of an adopted lexical
item battery (baiţrii) from English; the adopted/original form has been assigned feminine gender.

In some instances the normal/ideal form too may be assigned feminine gender, so will its DIMINUTIVE
form: [see also 32 above].

36. ȡāl ‘branch’ F SG >ȡālī DIMINUTIVE F SG

In Hindi compounding in some cases provide DIMINUTIVE(S) as follows:

37. patrikā ‘magazine’ F > laghu-patrikā ‘short magazine’ F

38. prabandh ‘essay’ M > laghu-prabandh ‘small essay’ M [laghu ‘small/short‘]

39. avadhi ‘duration’ F > alpa-avadhi ‘short-duration’ F

40. kathā ‘story’ F > laghu-kathā ‘short-story’ F > laghu-tam-kathā ‘very short story’ F.

[bahu‘large‘; mat‘vote‘; alpa‘short‘.]

41. bahu-mat ‘large/big vote i.e. majority’ M > alpa-mat ‘less/small vote i.e. minority’ M

Augmentatives:

Sanskrit uses the suffixes –tar and –tam to generate comparative and superlative forms of an adjective.
New Indo-Aryan languages do not employ such affixes. However, literary Hindi uses the Sanskrit suffixes
(Subbarao 2012) in a select few instances like:

42. laghu ‘small‘ > laghu-tar‘smaller‘ > laghu-tam‘smallest‘—[a case of diminution].

43. ucca ‘high‘ > ucca-tar ‘higher‘ > ucca-tam ‘highest‘.

44. adhik‘more‘ > adhik-tar ‘mostly‘ > adhik-tam ‘maximum

Augmentative compounding in Hindi can be exemplified in instances like:

45. ∫ikşā > ucca-∫ikşā >uccatam-∫ikşā;

‘education’ > high education > highest education’.

46. nyāyālaya > ucca-nyāyālaya > uccatam-nyāyālaya

‘Court > High Court > Highest/Supreme Court’.

47. Mat > bahu-mat

vote/faith/sect//opinion > majority/major view-point

48. avadhi >dῑrgha-avadhi

period/duration > long-duration

49. kathā >brihat-kathā

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 Story > gigantic-story/mega-story

50. ātmā >mahātmā >param-ātmā

Soul > great soul > supreme soul/god

51. dhām >param-dhām

religious/holy place >supreme/god’s place

52. yudh >mahā-yudh

war > great war

53. rājā >mahā-rājā

King >emperor

54. vi∫işţh >ati-vi∫işţh

special/important >very special/important

55. bahut > bahut-sāre > sāre

many > many more > all

Hindi Sandhi:

56a. ati∫ay + ukti > ati∫ayokti (vowel lowering)

excessive+occurrence >exaggeration

56b. iti +ādi > ityādi (vowel raising

close/end +beginning > [etcetera]/and so on

56c. iti + ∫rῑ >iti∫rῑ (no change)

close/end + auspicious > auspicious closing

In Bhojpuri- a major (eastern) regional sub-language of Hindi-, canonical usage of nominals involves an
addition of –waa/-yaa to a masculine/feminine nominal base as follows:

Hindi kuttā ‘dog’ has kutwā as its variant in Bhojpuri. Similarly Hindi laɍkī ‘girl’ has its variant laɍkiyā in
Bhojpuri. But if a speaker adds the suffix –wā/-yā to someone’s first/last-name, the usage becomes
pejorative. For instance, a∫okwā will be denigrating someone named Ashok. Similarly, nīlamiyā will be a
derogatory reference to someone named Neelam (Ashok is a masculine name whereas Neelam is a
feminine name).

–wā/-yā can also be added to last-name to create the same effect, e.g. kaulwā ‘Kaul’, sakseniyā ‘Saxena’
(Kaul and Saxena are surnames).

In Bundeli, another (central) sub-language of Hindi, DIMINUTIVE(S) in most cases are feminine. Some
instances of DIMINUTIVE(S) are as follows:

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57. jhārā [a kind of] ‘netted spoon’ M >jhariyā –DIMINUTIVE F [gender shift]

58. loɍā‘ stone grinder’ M >luɍiyā – DIMINUTIVE F [gender shift]

58. ȡāl‘basket’M >ȡaliyā –DIMINUTIVE F [gender shift]

59. gilās‘glass’ M >gilasiyā –DIMINUTIVE F [gender shift]

60. machalῑ ‘fish’ F >machariyā –DIMINUTIVE F

61. khaţiyā ‘cot’ F >khaţolā–DIMINUTIVE M [gender shift]

In Rajasthani, Western Sub-language of Hindi, Diminutive(s) can be suppletions or feminine

counterparts of the base form as is exemplified below:

63. bālㆆ ‘child’ M/F > pickyā ‘little child’ DIM M/F

64. baiȡhkῑ ‘Pregnant cow’ >bāchῑ ‘cow’ > bāchㆆ ‘calf’ DIM M/F

65. bākhar ‘plough’ M > bākhɍῑ DIM F

66. bājrㆆ ‘millet’ M > bājrῑ DIM F

The above description demonstrates that the verb in Indo-Aryan languages does not reflect the
DIMINUTIVE status of the Noun. Nouns, however, project the Big/Small distinction through affixation or
compounding. The feminine form of a nominal, in several cases, is inherently DIMINUTIVE. The gender
of the DIMINUTIVE compound in Kashmiri is determined by the compounding-nominal, that is the
second member of the compound; whereas in Hindi the main noun determines the gender of the
Compound.

Genetically unrelated Tamil [spoken in Southern India and several other countries 5] adds the adjective
cinna/kuţţi/kuᶅ ᶅ a‘small/little‘ to a nominal to denote the DIMINUTIVE status of the latter. For instance,
cinna-paiyan‘small boy‘; kuţţi āȡu ‘little goat‘ kuᶅ ᶅ a nari ‘ little fox’.
Acknowledgements:
I am immensely grateful to Peter E. Hook for his expert comments on the earlier draft of this essay. He also provided links t o several
texts and authors. My thanks are due to Nicola Grandi for persuading me to explore basic aspects of ‘Evaluative Morphology’.
I thank Charles Sneesby, a linguistics Graduate, native speaker of English, for going through the manuscript and for recommending
linguistic revisions to the essay.
Notes:
a. A note on transcription: ∫ stands for palatal fricative; Ɨ stands for central high unrounded vowel, c, j stand for palatal affricates; Ə
y
stands for long central mid vowel, ɜ stands for short central mid vowel, ā denotes long central low vowel and like-wise; stands for
h
palatalization, denotes aspiration, ţ ȡ ņ ᶅ stand for retroflex/cerebral segments, ɍ denotes retroflex flap, ñ stands for palatal nasal,
ş stands for retroflex fricative.
1. Kashmiri is a split ergative language, hence the personal pronouns and the nouns have a nominative NOM (base) form and an
ergative ERG (oblique) form.
h
2. The verb gats un‘to go’ has modal forms that are different from its verb-forms. We exemplify it here; this observation might
provide data to theorists on TAM as well as AUX/vector to confirm or revise their respective positions, as the case may be. [Hook &
Koul have presented a rich analysis of modal ‘gatshun’ and some other verbs in ‘Modals of Obligation in Kashmiri’-1985. The essay
makes several syntactic-semantic aspects of Kashmiri comprehensible and graspable.]
The verb gats -un-- gats Ɨ/goos I (M) will go/went; gatshƗ/gEyas I (F) will go/went; gats ak /gook (you[SG M] will go/went);
h h h h h
h h h h h h
gats ak /gayak (you SG F will go/went);gats i/gav (he will go/went); gats i/gayi (she will go/went); gats av/gay (we will go/went);
gɜts iv/gɜyivƗ(you [PL] will go/went); gats an/gɜy (they will go/went); gats (2 S go); gɜtshiv(2 PL go).
h h h

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 The modal gats -un --- gots (should); gots us(I [M] should [be]); gɜtshƗs (I [F] should [be]); gots uk (you[SG M] should [be]);
h h h h h

gɜtshƗkh(you [SG F] should [be]);gots /gɜts (he should[be]/she should [be]); gɜts (we/they [M] should [be]); gatshƗ(we/they [F]
h h hy

should [be]); gɜts vƗ(you [M PL] should [be]; gats ƗvƗ(you [F PL] should [be]), [gɜts /gats Ɨ (they M/F should [be]]. {Note that
hy h hy h

number as well as gender is reflected in the three persons}.

2. For detailed references on various aspects of Kashmiri See Wali.K & ON Koul 1997. Kashmiri: A Cognitive-descriptive Grammar.
London & New York: Routledge. [Wali & Koul 1997 is a repository of references on Kashmiri linguistics}.
3. For more on ‘Palatalization’, See Bhat, Rajnath 2008.
4. Some of the lexis in Kashmiri given above can be metaphorically employed as pejoratives. Such metaphoric usages cannot be
placed under word-formation in Morphology proper, yet a few have been listed here for illustration, because some of the forms
might have an inter-cultural presence and these might provide a view of historical development of metaphoric usages in the sub-
continent. The given instances might also be useful to theorists on Metaphoricity.
gāv ‘cow’ used metaphorically refers to ‘a woman with low intelligence’; dānd ‘bull’ connotes ‘a male person with low intelligence’;
hῡn/h ῡn ‘dog/bitch’ connotes ‘a male/female who roams from door to door- one who does not have self-dignity’; t ῡr ‘sheep’ when
y y
h
used as an ‘attribute’ for a human-being connotes ‘a person with no mind of his/her own’; k ar ‘ass’ refers to a senseless worker;
kǝk is a meaninglessly ‘argumentative person’. Kashmiri employs ∫az probably to refer to the unseen bird ‘sky-lark’. ∫az is used, as
y

an ameliorative to refer to an intelligent/clever person; vostād ‘master’ is an ameliorative referring to a fine-skilled person like a
mason, carpenter, driver, tailor and so on; zahar ‘poison’ balāy ‘demon’ attribute sharpness to the person referred.
5. Tamil is spoken in Tamil Nadu {India}, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Mauritius and Fiji. Tamil is a major member of
the Dravidian language family.

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